Rogue Review- Outer Rim Unfinished Business Expansion

Way back when Outer Rim came out, it seemed guaranteed to get an expansion. The event deck was designed with a bunch of numbers missing, suggesting the game designers had something in mind to fill in those numbers. The board would be easy to expand as well. Then a few years went by and no indication that anything was going to happen on the expansion front. All of us in my household enjoyed the game so it was a bit disappointing. But then finally this year an expansion drops. Was it worth the wait?

Gameplay- A

This expansion adds four main things:

1. New endgame objective in the form of personal goals.
2. New playable characters and their corresponding personal ships.
3. An alternative route across the board.
4. New event cards and new contacts, including all of the characters from the original game.

The endgame objectives are an optional rule that adds a second requirement to winning the game. Instead of whoever gets the required amount of fame first, wins, now you need a certain level of fame and to then complete a personal goal. This gives other players a little more breathing room to try and catch up. In one game, I thought I was for sure going to win. I had a big fame lead on my wife. But, since we had objectives, when I hit the threshold, the game didn’t immediately end. I still had an objective to complete. I was Cad Bane and had to become an Agent of the Empire and destroy several Rebel patrols and then complete a mission. My wife was playing Hera and was looking to become an Agent of the Rebels. I got the fame first, but had some struggles with the final objectives, allowing her time to catch up. It ended up in a nice back and forth for a few rounds where anyone could have won.

The addition of new characters was the easiest place to expand the game. I had assumed we’d be seeing characters from The Mandalorian making their way into the game as they would be the perfect fit. While that didn’t happen, I’m not disappointed. Hera, Chewie, Cad Bane, etc. are all fun additions to the game.

One of the biggest mechanical changes, aside from the endgame objectives, was the addition of the Core Worlds end pieces to the board. This really fixed one of the major annoyances with the game. No longer will you pick up a job on one end of the board and then have to traverse the entire board to complete it. You can always pop through the core worlds and arrive much faster. This dramatically fixes a major flaw. Who wins is no longer as directly tied to the luck of how far you have to go to complete missions. That’s still a vital component, but you don’t get nearly as screwed by it.

In addition to new characters to play, you can now also hunt down all the characters you could play before with each planet gaining a new contact slot. This also gives you more crew options as well. This is the area that feels clumsiest. All of the event cards and gear cards added, fold into the game seamlessly. The new objectives attach right to the player board. But the new contacts just sit on a planet, whereas the old contacts have defined spaces on the board. It doesn’t affect game play much, aside from making it a bit harder to see which faction controls each planet. But given how seamless everything else is, it feels the most tacked on.

Production- A

The expansion components hold up just as well as the core box. Nothing too fancy but nothing cheap and flimsy either.

Theme- A

It is just an expansion, so no change in the theme of the game. The addition of personal objectives does not divert from your role as a fringer living on the edge of civilization. They all fit within the game’s theme, allowing you to become a crime lord or an agent of the empire or a famed bounty hunter. The main thing they add is a little bit more flavor and a little bit more direction.

Conclusion- A

Overall, this expansion does what an expansion should. It adds options, expands existing features and shores up some initial weaknesses. What it does not do is fundamentally change the nature of the game or add a radical amount of additional complexity. The new features are fun and integrate seamlessly. Definitely worth getting if you enjoyed the base game.

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